OZ ATV :: The Australian ATV Forum

[fox'n]

Hi All, just thought I would put together a little report on the event held over the last weekend out at The Mountain at Manilla.

Stage one and two were run on Fiday night in the rain, which of course turned the place into a mud bowl, making the going pretty tough for the 4 RZR's and 12(i Think) comp trucks.Most came out with the rubber side down,but,the dark, wet slippery conditions took it's toll with a roll over among the trucks.Thankfully no one was injured and the recovery was soon underway. Although many headed back into town for a hot shower and warm digs, we braved the elements , together with a few other crews and spectators and swagged out for the night on the mountain.Cold, wet and windy,but we did manage a few hours sleep.
Saturday morning seen the start of 6 stages in still pretty ugly conditions.A couple more RZRs showed up,6 in total now for the event and we were soon up to our ears in mud and laughter.These machines are absolutely amazing! Most were gob-smacked as to how well they handle the punnishing rock filled creek beds,steep muddy climbs and the foot to the floor abuse dished out by competitive crews.
This time the organisers used comp trucks for our winch sections,placing one or two trucks above the section for our navvies to run to,grab the cable and dampener, slip back down the hill to hook up then back up the hill again to give the winch driver the nod.Drivers......we were just along for the ride at that stage, they are much quicker than our little winches,and you're up before you know it,trying to buckle up the navvie again before the run to the finish line.
The stages were a great mixture of sprints, hill climbs,river beds and bush tracks,making everone different, but most of all challenging,especially for the likes of me,who is still trying to find the limit of what these vehicles are truly capable of.
The weather started to clear a little on Saturday arvo,and with the rain gone, the wind was fast drying out the more exposed parts of the course offering up a hint of dust for Sunday.
Saturday night saw dinner at the pub in town,we went pretty easy as we had to drive back out, but of course there was a few who could not help themselves .A few of the boys had the fire raging upon our return, so a few sherberts and a giggle by the fire was a great way to finish an incredible days racing.
Sunday morning brought the sunshine again and everybody rearing to go and complete the last two stages of the event, which saw it all wound up about 2pm. with the presentation at 3pm.
Congratulations to all who participated, run, and won in both the COMP TRUCK and RZR events. It was a great weekend and if you have never been to such an event, I would highly recommend you give it a go, competitor or spectator.The comp trucks are awsome to watch,and driver skills are equally amazing.
Do the RZR's hold their own?......you bet! and then some! There was certainly heaps of interest and questions asked about these more than capable machines, I hope this will make for a few more starters in the next event.
Thanks again to the organisers and sponsors for putting this event together,hopefully the start of something bigger and better into 2011.Thanks also to the comp truck crews, and those that manned the winches. They are a great buch of guys and girls.
Also , to the other RZR crews, thanks for your help and encouragement,and of course some great racing with a whole heap of laughs thrown in.Hope to see you at the next one.
There are some photos on the Snake Racing website from the weekend.Just click on the extreme winch challange manilla down the bottom.There are two lots.
Cheers,FOX'N
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